Railway switch



246. RAILWAY SWITCHES 6L SIGNALS.

June 3, 1930. A. s. DAVIS RAILWAY SWITCH Eiled Feb. 8, 1927 Iiig 246. RAILWAY SWITCHES & SIGNALS Patented June 3, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY SWITCH Application filed February 8, 1927. Serial No. 166,763.

My invention relates to railway switches and has for one of its objects the elimination of movable knife blade members or points which are objectionable on account of rapid wear, splitting, etc., and the provision in lieu thereof of switch units, preferably of standard or standardized construction, and adapted to be applied to or inserted into a railway track at any given point readily and with a minimum of labor cost. Each of these units comprises a metallic base or bed plate which forms a rigid support for fixed rail members separated by a relatively short gap or gaps. Movable rail members of uniform cross section are provided for bridging said gaps, these movable members being hinged to the fixed members by means which permit pivotal movement in a horizontal plane without danger of any overturning of the movable members.

By reason of the provisions of fixed rail members at the ends of each gap, the length of the gaps will not be afiected by creeping due to expansion and contraction of the railway line rails, and the comparative shortness of the gaps and movable rail members minimizes the effects of expansion and contraction of the switch members themselves and insures at all temperatures an accurate fitting of the movable members with respect to the fixed members.

For each switch three separate switch units are ordinarily used to provide respectively for the right and left outside rails and the central throw-over or frog.

Reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan showing a switch consisting of three units applied to a main line track and siding connecting therewith, the movable members of the switch being in position for diverting traffic to the siding.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan of one of the outside rail switch units of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail plan, partly in horizon tal section, of the hinge for connecting one of the movable track members with a fixed track member.

Fig. 4 is a section on line H of Fig. 3.

In all of the views corresponding parts are designated by similar numerals and letters of reference.

In Fig. 1, a, b and 0 are the three switch units. Each unit consists of a rigid steel base or bed plate 1 which rests upon and is spiked to the ties. The units a and b are substantially identical in structure as shown, and each is provided with three fixed track members 2, 3, and 4 which are rigidly united to the base 1 by rivets 25. Each of the units a and I) also has two pivotal or hinged rail members 5 and 6, the former being hinged to the fixed member 3, and the latter to the fixed member 4.

Referring to Figs. 3 and l, the fixed and movable rail members 4 and 6 are respectively provided with stiffening plates 23 secured on opposite sides of the rail web by through bolts 22, as shown, which bolts also secure in position the hinge plates 7, 7 and 8, 8 which are of rolled steel or other suitable metal or alloy. The ends of lates 7 and 7 are bent and interlocked as s own to enable the plate 7 to pivot about the point e. The opposing hinge plates 8 and 8 are also bent and interlocked. They act as restraining members to hold the rail member 6 against any turning movement except about the pivot 6. During such movement the plates 8 and 8 by reason of a slight resilience partake of a combined yielding and sliding movement with respect to each other. A similar construction is used for uniting the members 3 and 5.

The central switch unit 0 is provided with fixed track members 10 and 11 riveted to the base 1 and of suflicient length to overlie the said base 1 to enable an angle bar connection with an adjacent rail. There is a V shaped frog member 9 riveted to the base 1 to which is hinged the pivotal rail member 12, the hinge construction being the same as that previously described. Stops 27 for limiting the lateral movement of rail member 12 in either direction are riveted to the base 1.

It will be noted that when the track rails are cut and the switch units a, b, and c placed in position, the ends of the track rails rest upon the baseplates 1 in immediate proximity to the outer ends of the respective fixed members 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11, and said fixed members by reason of the rigidity derived from their connection with the base plates form a barrier to prevent creeping of the line of track rails due to expansion and contraction by reason of temperature changes, and preserve gaps of substantially constant length within which the hinged track members 5, 6 and 12 respectively operate.

The hinged members 5 and 6 are operatively connected together by a lug 21 secured at 24 to member 6 and having a pin and slot connection with member 5 as shown in Fig. 2.

The switch is shown in Fig. 1 with the hinged members 5, 5 and 12 in proper position for diverting trafiic from the main line to the siding, in which position said members 5, 5 and 12 are in juxtaposition to fixed members 2, 2 and 10 respectively. In order to restore the switch to position for main line trafiic, the hinged members 5, 5, 6, 6 and 12 will all be thrown to the right so as to bring members 6, 6 and 12 into juxtaposition to members 2, 2 and 11 respectively. This may be done simultaneously by any suitable mechanism, that shown consisting of the operating levers and links 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 20, 21 and 22.

l-Iaving now described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a railway switch, a unit comprising a rigid base, a track member rigid therewith, a pair of hinge plates bent at one end into concentric and interlocking relation to each other, one of said plates being secured to said track member, and a movable track member secured to the other of said plates, one end of the movable track member being adjacent on one end of the fixed track mem ber, substantially as described.

2. In a railway switch, a unit comprising a rigid base, a track member rigid therewith, a pair of hlnge plates bent at one end into concentric and interlocking relation to each other, one of said plates being secured to said track member, a movable track member secured to the other of said plates, one end of the movable track member being adjacent one end of the fixed track member, and a pair of restraining plates secured respectively to said fixed and movable track members opposite the hinge plates, said restraining plates having ends bent into interlocking relation to each other and restraining said movable track member against all movement except about the axis of the hinge plates, substantially as described.

3. In a railway switch, a rigid base, a track section rigid therewith, a second track section, cooperating hinge plates secured to the webs of said track sections for pivotally uniting one to the other, and additional plates secured to said webs opposite the hinge plates and having interlocking parts.

4. In a railway switch, the combination of a supporting base plate, rail units rigid therewith forming a gap of fixed length, a rail section for opening and closing said gap, and vertically extending plates secured respectively to one of said fixed rail units and said rail section, said plates being hinged togethelrlalong a vertical line of substantial lengt 5. In a railway switch, the combination of a supporting base plate, rail units rigid therewith forming a gap of fixed length, a rail section for opening and closing said gap, vertically extending plates secured respectively to one of said fixed rail units and said rail section, said plates being hinged together along a vertical line of substantial length, and cooperating means secured to said fixed rail unit and said rail section opposite said plates to restrain the movable rail section against movement except in a horizontal plane.

ALBERT GALLATIN DAVIS. 

